Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

You’ve got to start somewhere!

I’ve wanted to at least be blogging once a week with my
training but neglected the past three weeks.It’s a common theme for me when my training hits a setback or isn’t
going as I expected my excitement about running goes down, when sometimes that is when you need that motivation the most.I hit a setback about 3 weeks ago when I had
thought I was beginning my build up post Boston when my hamstring issue
plaguing me off and on since October got to be too much.With some talking to my doctor it was advised
to hit up some physical therapy to strengthen and get back to 100%.Some initial advice is this issue is linked
to my weak glutes which are forcing my hamstrings to do all the work and the
glutes nothing.Funny thing about
running, everyone will say to get faster all you need to do is run, which is
100% true but to stay healthy and always be at your peak you need to make sure
you do not neglect all your other strength, mobility, recovery training.I’ve neglected it too long and now it is
beginning to have a negative impact on my running.

With PT under way, a new found respect for core work and new
recovery techniques aside, I still had a race to run the Bel Air Town Run 5k on
June 1st. The 5k is an event that gets a ton of disrespect these days but it's to me one of the hardest, most painful races you run. With everyone sucked into the half and full marathon craze the 5k loses all it's luster as only a 3.125 mile race, but believe you me when you run it all out, it really hurts... That said having done 0
workouts since Boston and only one 40 mile week, I was not confident about this
race.But I needed a kick in the butt
and to just race to get back at it, so I came out here nonetheless.As I warmed up I was worried but also had
some excitement to try and become a 5k runner again, as opposed to the half and
full runner I have become of late.I
toed the line, took a deep breath and I was off.The first 200 meters in I was in about 30th
place behind probably the entire Bel Air High School track team.I settled in and ignored these kids sprinting
down the hill and focused on me.Having forgotten
my watch was a fantastic start to this race, so I relied on effort and racing
people around me.I came through the
mile in 5:10, which I am told might be 5:20 but it didn’t matter either way I
felt pretty good through 1 mile.As the
second mile dragged on I really didn’t feel like I was slowing down but the
gentlemen at 2 miles seemed to tell me a different story as he shouted 11:04,
doh.I was a little deflated since I had
felt smooth through mile 2 and I knew mile 3 was the toughest but I had to push
on, or at least I told myself to.Mile 3
was terrible though, the lack of training and miles since Boston got me and
even as I crested the last hill to the final downhill I had nothing.I was passed by about 6-7 runners the last
600 meters, just terrible.I finished in
17:47, 19th overall and 1st in Age Group(Won a sweet glass bowl, not pictured).That said it is technically still a post
collegiate PR(I think I have run faster during the Club Challenge 10 miler, and
I did 17:43 on the track 4 days before Boston) but it’s not what I wanted.As the title says I had to start somewhere
and now I know the work ahead of me.If
this race did nothing else it upped my motivation to get faster and
my excitement for a summer of pain and fast running, which is exactly what I
was hoping this race would do.Sometimes
even when you are tired or not at your best lining up and racing can be a
positive experience as long as you can take something useful from it.For me I learned a lot from this race about
where my fitness needs to be improved and got some butterflies of running 5k’s
out.

The advice I can give to runners everywhere is don’t be
afraid to race, don’t be afraid to fail.I could have easily bagged this race for not being “ready” and who knows
where my mind would be at today. I could
also look at this result and be super disappointed that I lost to a few
teenagers, and finished 90 seconds slower than someone who
I finished even with at the half marathon in March, but instead it’s about
focusing on the positives and using the negatives as fuel to get out there and
get stronger.It’s about having a goal
and using races, workouts and any motivation you can to reach it.I want to run sub 16:30 by the end of this
summer, and yesterday gave me my starting point.The rest is up to me to get strong enough to
do it. I just need to enjoy the process of getting there, one step at a time.

Last 4 weeks of training since last blog:

5/5 – Off

5/6 – 7 Miles, a couple miles in the 6:20 – 6:30 range just
to get the legs moving

5/7 – 7 Miles today – Plyometrics

5/8 – Off

5/9 – 7 miles

5/10 – 6 miles – Plyometrics

5/11 -11 miles – strides

Total – 38 miles

5/12 – 7 miles

5/13 – 6.5 miles

5/14 – 7 miles, attempted a workout but just couldn’t get
into it, shut it down after second interval